And temperatures forecast to be in the 40’s tonight. It’s fall at the beach, and it’s a very nice time of year to be here.

Yesterday, at the beach, with tens of thousands of my closest friends watching the airshow, well, some things just never change. One is the ubiquitous rats with wings seagulls that populate our beaches. They’re scavengers, aggressive because they’ve been fed by so many people, and pretty much everywhere. But, they’re very photogenic.

I took this picture during one of the lulls in the show. With a steady 10-15 miles per hour breeze, the gulls just hung in the air, scanning the beach. With so many people, with coolers and contraband beer and snacks and such, I’m sure they were looking for an easy handout. As the tide came in, and the people moved further and further up the beach, the gulls and sandpipers were free to work the edge of the waterline.

I know the surfers were unhappy about the airshow. With a persistent nor’easter, the waves were up 3-6 feet, and cresting nicely far offshore, all the surfers could do was sit on the beach and watch, as the area was closed for the airshow. I’m sure it was open and nice up by the poles near Hanna park and down south of 32nd street or so, but surfers like the pier, and the pier was not available. Fisherpeople were probably also frustrated, but the size of the surf would have made surfcasting or fishing from the pier problematic in any case.

Since I was a kid, I’ve always enjoyed watching the sandpipers work the edge of the surf. The scurry down the beach, following the receding waves, and the dash back up the beach as the next wave comes in. In between waves, they stick their beaks into the sand, but I’ve never known what they’re actually eating from down there. Some very small critter, no doubt, that is carried in by the wave. But they run so quickly back and forth following an ever-changing waterline that I used to wonder if they were concerned about getting their feet wet. The picture above shows that’s not the case, as they’re clearly getting their feet wet. It’s a very impressive picture full size. Check my Flickr photostream to see it. You can see the individual bubbles on the beach.

And so it goes. With the very best military hardware screaming up and down the beach, the gulls and sandpipers just do what they do, oblivious to the ear-splitting “Sound of Freedom” from multiple FA-18 Super Hornets 100 feet off the water. And in that, there’s some comfort.